About Us - Roberto & Nikki

A plantsman and a sustainability advocate

Roberto and Nikki moved to Le Marche in November 2017 to live a slower, more sustainable life.  They chose Villa in the Vineyard as their Italian home due to its stunning location with 360 degree views, its top level eco-credentials and the fact that it included land cultivated sustainably to organic standards by the Vitali family.

Moving to this unspoilt area of Italy is the perfect choice for both Roberto and Nikki for a number of different reasons.  Roberto worked in the UK as a plantsman and landscape designer for nearly 30 years but, as his name may suggest, his family is originally Italian - from Rome back in the 1500's.  The family left Rome eventually and moved to Corsica and then on to Malta, where Roberto's father was born.  Roberto's mother was English but she and his father lived in Ireland for all of Roberto's childhood.   So it is almost like a home-coming to Italy after a very long time away!

Roberto has enjoyed regenerating the 2-acre gardens surrounding Villa in the Vineyard as well as setting up an organic vegetable garden and managing the 68 olive trees on the land.  He has also been working with the Vitalis in the vineyards!

Nikki has been a supporter of a more natural and sustainable approach to life for over 20 years.  Over the past 10 years she has worked as a sustainabiliy marketing freelancer and worked with campaiging organisations such as Fashion Revolution and Breast Cancer UK.  She helps businesses who want to become purpose driven brands with sustainability marketing strategy, content strategy and SEO copywriting.You can read more here. She is delighted to be part of the growing green tourism movement and has become an advocate for sustainable tourism, often taking part in webinars and podcasts.  She was delighted when Villa in the Vineyard was awarded an immediate Silver rating by Green Tourism in May 2019, followed by Gold in December 2019!

Both Nikki and Roberto love sharing their home with others so that you can experience the pleasures of sustainable living.  They live discreetly in the apartment upstairs and leave you private use of the gardens and pool. However, they are on hand if you want information or help with booking restaurants and activities etc or you would just like a chat!  The most important thing is that you have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday at Villa in the Vineyard.